Bolty
December 1949. }} The Bolty (ボルティー or ボルティ) is a Japanese folding camera taking twelve pictures on Bolta film, made by Miyagawa. Made by Miyagawa: , item 183. It was announced by the distributor Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten in 1942 and sold by Chiyoda Shōkai after the war. Description The Bolty is a vertical folder, the only folding camera using Bolta film. It has a folding optical finder. The film is advanced by a knob at the top right, as seen by the photographer holding the camera horizontally. Frame numbers are engraved on the base of the advance knob, and the user has to stop turning the knob when the next number is reached. The folding bed release is placed next to the advance knob. The name BOLTY is prominently engraved on the standing leg. The lens is a three-element Picner Anastigmat 40/4.5, made by Fujita. Three elements, made by Fujita: , lens item I5. The shutter is a Picny D made by Miyagawa. Made by Miyagawa: , shutter item 12-V-3. The shutter plate has the speed settings inscribed at the top in the order 100, 50, 25, B, and the shutter name PICNY D at the bottom. This lens and shutter equipment is the same as on the Boltax. Commercial life The Bolty was advertised by the distributor Yamashita Yūjirō Shōten in Japanese magazines dated January 1942, as "available soon". , p.341. The advertisement in Shashin Bunka gives the official set price of , eight yen more than the Boltax III. Advertisement reproduced in , p.93. (The picture perhaps shows a black shutter plate.) The camera is also listed in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production. , item 183. It was perhaps sold in limited quantities during the war. The Bolty was advertised again by the distributor Chiyoda Shōkai in Japanese magazines dated December 1946 to August 1948. , p.365. The December 1947 advertisement in Kohga Gekkan says that the camera was "awaited" (待望) and was "released at last" (遂に出現). Advertisement reproduced in , p.182. (The picture again shows a black shutter plate.) It is not known if the Bolty was effectively produced after the war or if the examples sold at the time were old stock. The last occurrence of the Bolty is in the December 1949 issue of , in an article on Japanese cameras which might list discontinued models as well. December 1949, pp.36–7. In this document, the exact price is not given, but the price category is "up to ¥2,500". Surviving example The example pictured in , in Lewis and in this page is probably the same. , item 4194; Lewis, p.61. It has a clear-coloured shutter plate with black markings. Another surviving example has been observed with a black shutter plate and an accessory shoe (perhaps not original) added opposite the advance knob. Example observed in an online auction. Notes Bibliography * Items 246 and 840. * Item 183. * P.61. * December 1949. "Ōru kokusan kamera" (オール国産カメラ, All of Japanese cameras). Pp.36–7. * Item 4194. Links In Japanese * Bolty in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology Category: Japanese Bolta film Category: Japanese folding Category: B